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April the giraffe is going on birth control

After having five children in her just 17 years on earth, April the giraffe is ready to go on birth control.

The famous giraffe from Animal Adventure Park in Harpursville, New York will also be moved to a barn where she'll be provided with senior care. Giraffes typically live up to 25 years in the wild and even more in captivity. Zookeepers were concerned that having another baby might negatively impact April's health.

In the spring of 2017, the park decided to film April's pregnancy and subsequent birth of her fourth child. The giraffe went viral, and understandably so.

In some ways, giraffes have far more brutal pregnancies than humans. Their gestation period is 15 months — six month longer than human's — and they often give birth to babies as big as six feet tall and as heavy as 100 to 150 pounds.

Zookeepers made the announcement to retire April over Facebook video.

The decision comes as the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service made moves to potentially protect giraffes under the Endangered Species Act.

Since 1985, the giraffe population has declined from 36 to 40 percent. There were just 96,000 giraffes in the wild in 2016.

Still, it's not on April to repopulate the entire species. Congratulations to April on her retirement from motherhood, and kudos to her giraffe insurance provider for covering birth control. I also wish I had retired at 17.

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Summary|4 Annotations

Harpursville, New York will also be moved to a barn where she'll be provided with senior care. Giraffes typically live up to 25 years in the wild and even more in captivity. Zookeepers were concerned that having another baby might negatively impact April's health.

2019/06/27 19:53

The giraffe went viral, and understandably so.

2019/06/27 19:53

Their gestation period is 15 months — six month longer than human's — and they often give birth to babies as big as six feet tall and as heavy as 100 to 150

2019/06/27 19:53

has declined from 36 to 40 percent. There were just 96,000 giraffes in the wild in 2016.